William Daniel Bird 1872-1953

William, or Bill to some, or Will to his immediate family, was the son of John Thomas Bird and his wife Johanna Hunt, and Grandson of settlers William and Betsy Bird.

He was the eldest son of the eldest son of William and Betsy, who was in turn the eldest son of Edward  Bird (1781-1859) and Sarah Whitwell, and Edward was the eldest son of Edward Bird (1752-1808) and Elizabeth Wilson.
A straight line of five generations of eldest sons. But it ended with Will because he never married and died a bachelor with no children.

Will's parents John and Johanna married in 1871 at Papakihau, Porangahau where Johanna had been working as a housemaid for the Hunter family. She was only eighteen and John, who had been working for Hunters as a stockman for 13 years, was 33.
Will was born a year later, in Napier , where Johanna's parents Richard and Catherine Hunt were living, having settled in Paradise Road after soldier Richard took his discharge from the 65th Regiment in 1863.
It was Richard who registered his grandson's birth as Johanna had gone home to her parents to have her first baby.

The railway line from Napier to Waipukurau wasnt completed till 1886, but there was a coach service from 1867. The usual way to travel was by coastal ship from Porangahau.

The baby was named William for his paternal Grandfather and Daniel for Johanna's only brother who was born soon after the Hunt family arrived in Wellington with the Regiment in 1856 (on the Lancashire Witch).
Will was only eight when his mother Johanna died soon after giving birth to her fifth child,John, at only 28 herself.
Neither baby John nor an older sister Catherine survived infancy, so Will was "big brother"  to his siblings Addie and Richard.

Johanna, Will and Rich

This photo is of "Will and Rich" with their mother Johanna , and as Richard was born 8th May 1875, Will is only three in his little velvet suit.
Addie (Adeline Elizabeth) was born less than two years later and was only three when her mother died.
Will's obituary says that he was born and educated in Napier, and though no records have been found, he could read and write, and indeed it was Will who signed the "informant" section of the registration certificate  of Richard's death, after he was killed by a ram at only 12. A big ask for a 15 year old.
Will farmed for his father John Bird on the Wallingford farm "Woodlands" until his step brothers Joe and Charlie came home from school and then he went to work for the Ormonds, spending the rest of his working life at Wallingford.
He trained and drove bullock teams carrying wool from Wallingford to Porangahau by bullock team and dray.  His skill was legendary and  I have been told that when asked how he got such a good crack out of his whip, he would pluck a trademark Bird eyebrow and pretend to attach it to his whip!
Speaking with Alec, from Marotane, he can remember Bill Bird coming to his father at Airlie, at Wanstead, for poles from the bush to use with his Teams

Will was also a wonderful dancer, in the days of woolsheds and Community Halls with sprung floors; and family rumour tells me that he once had a sweetheart called Miss Herbert.
Will was a keen sportsman and was a Life Member of the Wallingford Sports Club and also the Waipukurau Rifle Club. In the 1920s Will won the Tattersall's Lottery and bought a pair of Purdy  Purdey  rifles and a Chrysler car. He may have  bought his young half sister Annie a car too.

Alec told me today about a well known identity at Wanstead, Jessie Richards, who looked out and exclaimed: "there is a carriage coming down the road without a horse"....and  we are looking towards driverless cars!

This picture is of Will and his Chrysler car with  his nephew Sid Brown.

 He adored "Babs" as Anne was known, and when he died left his estate to her in its entirety.
Sadly Will succumbed to Altzheimers and was admitted to Waipukurau Hospital. The Matron couldnt cope with him in a General Ward and when Addy's family refused to sign the papers to have him committed to Porirua Mental Hospital, she managed to get him transferred against the family's wishes anyway.
His effects on admission included a spare suit of clothes and his Rosary beads.
There is a letter from Ethel, Babs's older sister, admonishing Charlie and Joe for not taking care of Bill "after he had been so good" to them. Ethel was trying to get Will into the care of the Island Bay Little Sisters of the Poor when he faded away and died at 81.

He was brought back to Waipukurau for his funeral and burial.

In the beginning......

Thursday 14 January 2016

Steph gave me two little books by Austin Kleon "Steal Like an Artist" and "Show Your Work!"
They are packed with  motivation for getting what is in my head "out there".
I love the :
"Dont wait till you know who you are to get started",
 "Write the book you want to read" and
 "Open up your cabinet of curiosities".

A kind knowledgeable genealogist  has helped kick start  this project....thank you Michelle.

New Zealand is a very young country and the history of European settlement is very short .While the stories are held within living memory I am going to record the tales I have been told for my descendants and any others descended from the "Birds of Brigstock";  and the  "just curious".

William and Betsy Bird arrived in New Zealand in 1842 on the "Clifton" as Ag Labs (agricultural labourers) under the auspices of the New Zealand Company.
They sailed with three children, Mary, John and Amelia. The children all arrived alive despite the odds at sea.

William had a chequered career in Brigstock, Northamptonshire,and was a product of the times.
Landing in New Zealand he raised a big healthy family and kept  on the right side of the law.

The task for myself is to produce individual Posts on  the settler patriarch and his wife , and each of their children

Watch this space!